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Buy 5 Stocks with Impressive Interest Coverage Ratio

We often judge a company on the basis of its sales and earnings numbers. These, however, may not be enough. Sometimes, a stock gets a boost if these numbers climb year over year or surpass estimates in a particular quarter. This will definitely be a great opportunity for a short horizon investor to cash in on. But if you seek long-term returns, investments backed only by sales and earnings numbers may not yield the desired results.

A critical analysis of a company’s financial background is a prerequisite for an informed investment decision. Here, coverage ratios that determine whether a company is sound enough to meet its financial obligations play a crucial role. The higher the ratio, the better it is. The focus of this article is on “Interest Coverage”, which is one such ratio.

Interest Coverage Ratio is used to determine how effectively a company can pay the interest charges on its debt.

Debt, which is crucial for most of the companies to finance operations, comes at a cost called interest. Interest expense has a direct bearing on the profitability of a company and its creditworthiness depends on how effectively it meets interest obligations. Therefore, Interest Coverage Ratio is one of the important criteria to factor in before making any investment decision.

Interest Coverage Ratio suggests the number of times the interest could be paid from earnings and also gauges the margin of safety a firm carries for paying interest.

An interest coverage ratio lower than 1.0 implies that the company is unable to fulfill its interest obligations and could default on repaying debt. A company that is capable of generating earnings well above its interest expense can withstand financial hardships. Definitely, one should also track the company’s past performance to determine whether the interest coverage ratio has improved or worsened over a period of time.

The Winning Strategy

Apart from having an Interest Coverage Ratio that is more than the industry average, adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a VGM Score of “A” or “B” to your search criteria should lead to better results.

Interest Coverage Ratio greater than X-Industry Median

Price greater than or equal to 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.

Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, which operates a passenger airline, has a VGM score of “A” and an expected EPS growth rate of 10.2% for 3–5 years. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. HII, which is engaged in the designing, building, overhauling and repairing of ships, has a VGM score of “B” and an expected EPS growth rate 15% for 3–5 years. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Time Warner Inc. TWX, which operates as a media and entertainment company, has a VGM score of “A” with an expected EPS growth rate of 9.5% for 3–5 years. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Carnival Corporation CCL, a leisure travel and cruise company, has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of “A”. The expected EPS growth rate for 3–5 years is currently 14.0%.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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